Control Arm Ball Joints

[trigerhappy235]

Greetings All,
93 L 5sp. 148000 miles
I tried to change my control arms today, and my luck= trouble,
The bolt by the frame (rail) is enclosed, the bolt just spins..
The Haynes manual will show a pic. that you can see the nut and bolt, but the nut on this one is in the rail... If I put my finger in the access hole, It seems the nut is welded inside, so the bolt just spins....
Is it time for the Blue Flame Tool?? Any Tricks??
Im not ready to give up on this car yet, I drive it 80 miles a day, and Im eating tires, Also need an alignment
Thanks for any and all help
Martin

[Tim]

Get a pair of tinsnips or a saw and widen the hole.

I had the same thing happen with my car.


Regards,

Tim

[Safety Guy]

Yes, you have to enlarge that hole to get something in there to stop the welded nut (which has probably become unwelded) from spinning. Also, an air rachet may help along with any heat you may need.

Karl

[trigerhappy235]

Well its not the nut spinning, it is the bolt spinning in the nut, Its stripped

[Dave G]

Maybe try prying the bolt out while turning it?

[Jimmy]

If it is stipped but the bolt spins. you might be able to get it out by using something like Vice-Grips and pulling as you turn. After that you could just drill the weld nut a little oversized then use a long bolt and a second nut.

I've never had this problem on the Festiva, but I have had similar problems on other cars so this advice may not work in this particular case.

[Guest]

I never tried this on a Fester, and I haven't done it in years. But I couldn't get anything like pliers or vice grips on it. I had another bolt that was the same size and I put it in the back of the nut where there were still good threads and tightened it. Did a few turns on the front then back, repeat etc. And it pushed the bolt out far enough that it caught good thread and backed the rest of the way out itself.. Oh yeah, this is assuming the bolt is far enough out to start the extra bolt.

[trigerhappy235]

Well tried again... It was the nut spinning!! We were able to get a weld in the little hole, to tack the nut down, then all went well
So we tacked the other side as well, and Ill soak it with pb blaster for the next few days, Then get that done.....
Thanks for the input guys!
Martin

[Pu241]

Trigerhappy235,

Glad you got it!

I had one that the bushing sleve had seized to the bolt and broke the caged nut loose!
Used a reciprocating saw and cut the bolt in two places to remove the control arm then drove out the caged nut and remainder of the bolt!

On the other hand, somone on this board PB Blasted his control arms over a period of time and was able to replace both of his in 45 minutes!

Pu241

[trigerhappy235]

Update------
Well its over
Both sides are done.. Now an alignment, and some new skins
Thanks for the input guys!!
Martin